This Friday, members of the University of Wisconsin College Republicans, in conjunction with the Dane County Republicans, will travel to Milwaukee to hear President Bush speak at a campaign stop.
According to the White House Office of Media Affairs, Bush will visit Milwaukee to remark on the economy and attend a $2000 a plate Bush-Cheney 2004 luncheon.
The luncheon is scheduled to take place at the Italian Community Center, on 631 E. Chicago St., at 11:30 a.m. Bush will speak beforehand.
\I'm very excited for it,"" said Nicole Marklein, second vice-chair of the UWCR and UW-Madison junior. ""I think it's going to be a very real, and very positive talk.""
Tentatively, the UWCR will be leaving at 7:00 a.m. by bus, most likely from the Memorial Union, and students will return at 2:00 p.m. according to UW-Madison senior Frank Harris, chair of the UWCR.
Bush will likely speak on the war on terror and the war in Iraq, though at this point avoiding the issue would be a wiser course, according to John McAdams, associate professor of political science at Marquette University in Milwaukee.
""It would serve his political interests not to talk about Iraq,"" McAdams said. ""It would serve his interests if people kind of forgot about Iraq.""
This visit to Wisconsin could prove to be a key one for the Republicans, especially as the election frenzy heats up. Wisconsin was a closely contested state in the 2000 presidential election. Democratic candidate Al Gore won by only 5,708, votes according to the Wisconsin State Elections Board.
""After the 2000 election, which proved that Wisconsin is in fact [a] highly competitive state, I would be very surprised if there was no major push [by the Republicans] to take Wisconsin in 2004,"" McAdams said.
Wisconsin has also become more attractive to candidates since its presidential primary was moved up to Feb. 17. States that have earlier primaries are more influential in the final outcome of an election, because states with later primaries often cast their votes after the outcome of the race has been determined.
According to both McAdams and Harris, Bush will likely make more visits to Wisconsin before the election in an attempt to avoid a narrow loss like the last election.
""If [Bush] had made appearances, he could have gotten more Republicans to show up and helped the candidates out,"" said Harris of the 2000 presidential campaign.
If anyone wishes to join the UWCR trip to Milwaukee Friday, they may contact the college republicans uw_crs@hotmail.com.
